Watercolor Dirtbag
Da Vinci’s Violet Iron Oxide is a color I haven’t seen anywhere else. It’s a transparent, highly granulating, cool purple-toned maroon brown made from the PR101 pigment, the same that is used for Transparent Red Oxide and the opaque Indian Red.
When a person is into color as much as Mimi Robinson, author of Local Color, I naturally find myself asking “What paints does she have in her palette?”
Sodalite is one of Daniel Smith’s exclusive Primatek colors made from real minerals. This one is a granulating, very dark blue. I’d say this is a good substitute for Indigo (which is traditionally blue + black) if you’re looking for something in that color family that is more granulating and/or single pigment.
I previously rounded up multiple versions of muted mixed greens, so now let’s look at a few bright mixed greens!
I’m about two years late to this controversy, but I recently decided to dig into this question after a few oblique comments here and there. Oto Kano mentioned on one of their videos that they’re moving away from Daniel Smith paints because they disagree with some of the actions of the company, but did not … Read more
We’ve reached the final stretch! I’ll finish up the DV dot cards today by exploring the earth tones (DV has some of my favorites!) and neutrals like black, white, and gray. I’ll also answer the question: which Da Vinci colors are not in this dot card set?
Van Dyck Brown is a very dark, almost black brown that is rather like a blacker/grayer version of Raw Umber. Most companies make it using a combination of PBr7 (the traditional earth tone pigment that Raw and Burnt Umber are made from) plus a black. Daniel Smith’s version is made from only PBr7. Experiment Results … Read more
I’m working my way through the Da Vinci Dot Card set. This time: Greens!
PY159 is a granulating, low-strength primary yellow. It’s available as Winsor & Newton Lemon Yellow Deep (shown here), or as Schmincke’s Volcano Yellow (from the Supergranulating line). Experiment Results Gradient: Slighlty dull granulating mid-yellow in masstone, pale yellow otherwise. Very difficult to get a masstone and doesn’t grade easily. Does not rewet easily. Opacity: Semi-transparent… … Read more
This is a guest post by my watercolor buddy Hanna. Hanna is one of the most meticulous planners and evaluators of watercolor pigments and brands that I know! There are many professional watercolor brands out there. All have their fans, and all can be used to produce beautiful works of art. That said, they do … Read more